


Shadow Puppets

by hulklinging



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Genderqueer Character, Multi, Other, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-09
Updated: 2015-06-09
Packaged: 2018-04-03 17:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4108768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hulklinging/pseuds/hulklinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki makes Teddy late for class. He doesn't mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shadow Puppets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thegaywardens](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegaywardens/gifts).



> For the prompt - Teddy/Loki College AU.

“Teddy!”

Loki catches him on the way to his next class, wraps her arms around one of his and happily tucks herself against his side. Teddy has always marvelled at that, how she fits herself so perfectly to his body. He doesn’t always like his body, feels like a clumsy giant most of the time, especially next to his delicate sometimes girlfriend (the sometimes being that she is sometimes a girl, not that she is sometimes his girlfriend. They surprised everyone by starting to date in senior year and have continued to surprise people since). But when he thinks of his body in relation to hers, how they fit together, how they can walk arm in arm and match each other’s stride just right, he thinks that maybe his body is okay.

“Hey,” he says, with a smile. “How was World Religion?”

Loki shrugs. “Some boy started talking about how inspiring and exotic the Native American belief system is.”

“Ah, yes. That one singular belief system of theirs.” This earns him a kiss on the cheek, and when he looks down at Loki, her eyes are dancing with humour.

“I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Teddy feigns surprise. “I thought it was my looks?”

Loki’s giggling now, which always makes her look especially beautiful, Teddy thinks. “And your height.”

“Right, of course.” Like he doesn’t catch her standing on the counter to get things out of the taller cupboards on a daily basis. If Loki wants something, she’ll find a way to get it. It’s just that sometimes what she wants is to boss Teddy around.

He’s kind of into that, if he’s being honest.

“Did you tell the guy off, then?” He should probably step a little faster, to make it to his next class on time, but he doesn’t really know why he’s taking Econ, if he’s being perfectly honest, and the teacher is never on time either, so he lets Loki set the pace.

Loki shakes her head. She’s growing her hair out, and it just brushes her shoulders when she does that. She’s taken to tying it up on her more masculine days, when she asks him to say ‘partner’ or boyfriend’ instead of girlfriend. They’ve been friends for ages, and Teddy spends enough time with her to be familiar with the ebb and flow of her identity, but having such a clear visual aid is nice too, especially because their small group of friends has started to pick up on it, which means Loki’s been smiling more so than ever.

“No, another classmate beat me to it.” She looks thoughtful, her hand drumming out a little tune on his arm. “He’s the one I’ve mentioned before. Billy? Very wellspoken. Also, very your type.”

“My type?” Teddy doesn’t mean to sound so dubious, it just slips out of him. He doesn’t really think of himself as having a type. It’s Loki who’s always lamenting about a cute classmate or a charming barista. Teddy is a little bit on the more oblivious side. He has a habit of not realizing people are interested in him until they’re kissing him.

It’s probably something he’s supposed to be insecure about, his girlfriend pointing out all the attractive people around him. But it’s just something that works for them, something they did before they were dating that they didn’t bother to change. A lot of aspects of their relationship are like that, like they’d been dating for years before they remembered to put a label on it. Loki pointed out pretty folk like she pointed out particularly beautiful architecture or a cute animal. It’s all part of her making sure she’s enjoying the world around her, something she’s gotten much better at in the last year or so.

Teddy has done the whole being insecure about everything in his life thing. He still avoids mirrors on his bad days, doesn’t like to think about all the people he’s let down in some way or another, but he is worlds away from the scared kid he was in high school. Loki has stuck with him through his mom’s sickness, his sexuality crisis, and a few very badly handled relationships. Theirs was a relationship that was anchored in survival, in being the two out kids at a not-quite-friendly school, and now, halfway through university, they’re stronger than some pretty strangers.

“What’s my type?” Teddy asks, because he knows Loki wants him to, although he’s still caught up in old memories.

He can still remember their first kiss, the summer before grade eleven. It was hot, in Loki’s little shoebox of a room, and they’d snuck just enough alcohol from Loki’s brother’s stash to feel it in their chests. It was a strange night, darker earlier than is usual for midsummer, the booze making them feel dangerous. They’d turned out the lights, trying to make the heat a little less stifling, and Loki’s eyes kept catching the shine of the city outside. As the nightlife woke up around them, their own world seemed to shrink to those four walls, to just the two of them and this strange unspoken feeling. Loki had bought eyeliner earlier that day, applied it for the first time with a hand that shook, and when she looked at him from across the room, she was otherworldly. A strange, androgynous spirit, a modern Puck, only here for the night. It was that night she called herself Loki for the first time, and they kissed while the name was still fresh on their lips. Like a dream, or a promise.

Loki’s talking.

“Hmm?”

Loki stops walking and looks at him. “Were you listening at all?”

Teddy shakes his head. “Sorry, daydreaming.”

“About what?” She’s trying to pout, but can’t quite keep the smile off of her face. Teddy grins, and doesn’t try to pretend.

“You, of course.”

Her face goes bright red. “You, sir, are an impossibly dashing prince. Which is good, because if you were any less pretty, I’d have to take offence at you ignoring me.”

Teddy shrugs. “I should probably go to class anyway.”

“Right. Class.” She pats his cheek. “I’ll summarize what you missed. He’s a total nerd, so he’s definitely your type. And he’s got a bit of that accidentally sad hipster look going for him, which means he’s my type too.” She gives him a wink, and then steps away, because she also has a class to get to. “He’s in my Creative Writing class tomorrow, too. If you wait for me after class, maybe you can meet him?” There’s a hint of nerves, underneath the teasing, and Teddy recalls her thoughtful look earlier. She sounds like she has a crush.

They’re perfectly content as two, but the subject of a third had been broached, months ago. Teddy hadn’t put much thought into it, really. It would be tough, to find someone else who could fit into their dynamic without disrupting it, or without feeling left out. Loki had agreed, had said it was more of a 'just in case’ question than anything, but the look in her eyes says that maybe that’s changed, now.

There’s a slight shift in his stomach, the beginnings of butterflies. “I can do that,” he says, and Loki smiles shyly.

“You’ll like him. Even just as a friend. He’s a cool friend.” And, because Loki knows him so well, her smile shifts to reassuring. She must see his sudden worry. “And he’ll like you, I think. He’d be stupid not to.”

“Do you think he’d maybe want to get lunch with us, tomorrow?” Offering a plan, Teddy’s way of saying he’s interested, because even without meeting the guy he trusts Loki’s judgement, on every aspect of his life but especially with friends.

“I can ask!” Her voice betrays her excitement, and she flits closer to him just long enough to give him a final kiss on the cheek before she’s gone again, rushing off to class because they are both most definitely late, at this point. Teddy watches her go and can’t help but smile. He’s got a gorgeous partner, he’s got a maybe-date with his partner’s crush tomorrow. In this moment, he’s feeling pretty good.

“Impossibly dashing prince,” he mutters to himself, feels the words resonate in his chest, lets them settle into the part of himself where he stores his self worth. Then, smiling, he heads to Econ.

It’s not quite the future they talked about, that night in Loki’s room. But it’s real, and that makes it just as good as any shadows they dreamt back then. Maybe even better.


End file.
